


Ride Along

by larxenethefirefly



Series: hospital AU [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: A Pinch of Angst, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ensemble Cast, Fluff, M/M, Nurse!Hanzo, paramedic!McCree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 14:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13813110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larxenethefirefly/pseuds/larxenethefirefly
Summary: “Need something?” one asked, eyeing him suspiciously. The one smoking not-so-subtly kneed him in the spine, ignoring the glare and hissed 'McCree' sent his way.Hanzo cleared his throat. “I need my ride-along done for my recertification, and I was wondering if any of you would be available to observe me.”“Well shoot, honey, I’d be happy to observe ya any day,” the one with the cigarette said, and Hanzo flushed at the innuendo. “But Hal here just clocked out, and my partner ain’t back from break.”





	Ride Along

**Author's Note:**

> More ER binging, more late nights, and thus, this was created. Hope it doesn't disappoint!

To put it frankly, Hanzo Shimada had seen some shit. Decapitation, severed arteries, bodies eaten by acid, people burned alive, others foaming from the mouth and writhing from poison. 

And that was before he even became an ER nurse.

But there was something different about seeing it outside of the hospital.

He stood, frozen, in the middle of the street as McCree and Reyes rushed to a man who was practically floating in his own blood from a gunshot wound to the leg. Another victim was a few feet away with shrapnel damage holding a red cloth to his neck. A third was motionless, half-hanging out of a car, and a fourth-

“Get your ass moving, we need help over here!”

Right. He had work to do.

Hanzo took a breath, squared his shoulders, and got to work.

\---

It started seven months into his employment at Overwatch Training Hospital. Amari had called a staff meeting to go over recent updates and reminders, and he was in the back doodling in the margins of the overview. It wasn’t anything against the head nurse- the woman was frighteningly competent and took no nonsense, but nothing could make meetings fun and he found the best way to get through it was simply to let his mind wander and hope it would end soon.

“Shimada? Shimada!”

Hanzo jolted from his daydream. Amari was frowning at him. “Yes?”

“You’re behind on your re-cert. Get on that.”

Hanzo blinked rapidly as the other nurses tittered, running through his certifications. It was highly unlikely- he got them done early on, shortly after he got this job. “What recertification am I lacking on? I completed them all months ago-”

“MICN. You still need your hours in ride alongs by the end of next month.”

And with that startling news, she dismissed them all and bustled off.

Hanzo bolted after her. “Ms. Amari, there has to be some mistake, I-”

She arched her brows at him. “I have your records here, Shimada. Would you like to go through them yourself?”

He inhaled sharply through his nose and let it out again, slowly. “No, Ms. Amari. Thank you. I’ll get it done by the end of the week.” 

Amari merely nodded and left, quickly being swallowed by the busy crowd. Hanzo leaned against the wall and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. It would have to be done during his day off- whenever the next one was. It was no secret that Hanzo was a bit of a workaholic, and it took Amari threatening to fire him to stop him from continuing to clock in overtime. He would have to look at his schedule then, find out when it would be most convenient.

And, of course, find someone willing to let him tag along.

Hanzo groaned. The last time he had interacted with an EMT it hadn’t ended well- they had given a patient the wrong kind of treatment, and Hanzo had yelled at them for a good fifteen minutes while frantically trying to keep the man alive until a doctor was available. Word had spread, and before he knew it, he was ostracized from the small clique. 

The man losing his license didn’t help, but Hanzo still stood by the decision to report him. Mistakes were one thing, but willful ignorance of medical treatments could not be ignored. 

Another deep breath, then he pushed away from the wall and headed outside.

There was a cluster of them at an ambulance, chatting. One was smoking as another wolfed down their sandwich, coughing as they swallowed too much- the others laughed, the one with the cigarette pounding the man on the back as he coughed it back up. Hanzo swallowed, hesitant to simply approach, his indecision leaving him paralyzed and hanging on the outskirts until they noticed him.

“Need something?” one asked, eyeing him suspiciously. The one smoking not-so-subtly kneed him in the spine, ignoring the glare and the hissed _'McCree'_ sent his way.

Hanzo cleared his throat. “I need my ride-along done for my recertification, and I was wondering if any of you would be available to observe me.”

“Well shoot, honey, I’d be happy to observe ya anyday,” the one with the cigarette said, and Hanzo flushed at the innuendo. “But Hal here just clocked out, and my partner ain’t back from break.”

“That is fine, I cannot do it today anyway,” Hanzo said, the blush starting to fade as the man stubbed out the cigarette and hopped off the back of the ambulance to walk closer. It renewed again when he got a good look at the man. Tall, soulful brown eyes, and, oh god, _dimples_ \- 

He scrambled from his phone and pulled up his schedule before he made a fool of himself. “I believe I will be free Friday.”

The man grinned. “Weekends are always the fun days. Shift starts at eight in the morning, think you can make it?”

“I get off an hour before that, so yes, I can.” Hanzo hesitated, then stuck out his hand. “I’m Shimada Hanzo. Thank you, Mr…?”

“McCree, but you can call me Jesse, sweetheart. My partner’s name is Gabe, you’ve met him I reckon. Tall, dark, swears like a sailor?”

Hanzo relaxed. Reyes was one of the few who didn’t hold Hanzo’s actions against him, going so far as to give him a firm clap on the shoulder and say ‘good going, kid’ before wandering off again. “Yes. We have met before.”

“Good, then we’ll be easy to spot. See you Friday.” He returned to his coworkers, and Hanzo fled, heart racing even from that brief encounter. 

Damn it. Spending an entire day not only in the field responding to emergencies, but with a man that fits his expectations to a T? He was screwed.

\---

Friday came faster than Hanzo expected, on the tail of a 48 hour shift with just barely enough sleep but enough coffee to compensate. A quick nap in the lounge after he clocked out did little to ease the tension hovering over his shoulders, but the cup of tea Amari pressed into his hands did wonders. “Break a leg,” she said, and hurried off down the hall. Before she turned the corner she looked to Hanzo one more time and shouted, “But not literally.” Hanzo just stood there in a daze and listened to her laugh as she disappeared.

He met McCree and Reyes in the parking lot, the both of them doing inventory on the supplies to double check that everything had been restocked. “Rough shift?” McCree asked when Hanzo joined them.

“Not as bad as some,” he replied, drinking the last of the tea before throwing the cup away. “What’s left?”

Reyes grunted as he checked something off the list. “Just gotta check the gas, at least the rig is clean-”

The radios on their hips blared on, and McCree grinned. “Ready to go, Boss?”

“Looks like we got an exciting day for you Shimada. Let’s go.”

When Hanzo first got his MICN certification, it had been an easy day. Three cases of asthma, one with a broken leg, and another one of dehydration. All in all, nothing serious or worth remembering.

This? This was the exact opposite of that first time.

The woman hanging out of the car was dead, a shard of glass through her neck killing her in seconds when it pierced the artery. The man with the cloth had glass embedded into his skin, but another paramedic team scooped him up. Gabe and McCree were bent over the man with the gunshot wound, desperately tying a tourniquet around his leg. “Femoral artery?” Hanzo asked as he brought over the gurney.

“No, thank god,” McCree said. “Grab him.”

Reyes and he lifted the man off, before rushing to the ambulance. “Any blood bags?” Reyes was shouting.

Hanzo didn’t hear McCree’s reply, looking to the fourth victim.

It was a child, couldn’t have been older than ten. He wasn’t moving, stuck underneath the car- Hanzo doubted anyone saw him. Still, he had to see-

“Shimada! We need to- fuck, it’s a kid. Jesse! We got an injured minor!”

Hanzo had already started CPR when they got there. “He’s not breathing but I got a pulse,” he explained. “Do we have room-”

“Yeah, we can squeeze him in. Ready? Switch.”

Hanzo slid to the side as Reyes swooped in to begin chest compressions, McCree wordlessly handing Hanzo the mask before lowering the stretcher. 

Since Reyes was the normal driver, McCree had to take over while Reyes did CPR. Since the man with the bleeding leg was stable, they focused on the child the entire ride to the hospital- just as they pulled up, the kid gasped, flailing in panic. 

“ _Madre de dios_ ,” Reyes said. “It’s okay now, kid. You’re safe.”

Hanzo was left behind as both patients were rushed off, leaning wearily against the wall of the ambulance. The chaos of the crime scene was still rattling around in his brain- the shouts of the bystanders, the wails of sirens, the screams of the wounded-

“Hey. You doing alright?”

Hanzo blinked his eyes open to see McCree standing in front of him, looking concerned. Hanzo dragged a hand down his face. “Yeah. I just…”

“It can be a bit much sometimes,” McCree nodded. “It feels more raw out there, you know?”

“Exactly.” They stood in silence for a moment, the only sounds being that of traffic from the nearby highway. “Don’t they need you somewhere?”

“Nah. I’m still technically a trainee, so Reyes does most of the paperwork.”

“Trainee?”

He shrugged. “I’m training to be a paramedic. Been an EMT for the past what, three years? Figured if I was gonna make this a career might as well go all the way. Only got about six more hours of supervised on-the-job experience and one more class to finish before it’s official.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks, but it’s nothing compared to what you went through.” McCree peered at him as Hanzo shuffled awkwardly, unsure of how to continue the conversation. “Say, how about we get something to eat after we’re done cleaning? You probably haven’t had breakfast, and we both need to decompress after that.”

Relief swept through him. “I would like that.”

\---

Between the three of them, the ambulance was quickly cleaned. Reyes waved them off without protest, saying that so long as McCree kept his phone on him and they brought him something back it was fine. They ended up at a small diner across the street, an apparent haunt of McCree’s since the cook knew him by name.

“They have amazing pancakes,” McCree explained.

Hanzo ended up with a heavenly stack of blueberry waffles, and ate the entire plate plus most of McCree’s bacon and hashbrowns. When he apologized McCree just shook his head in awe. “I ain’t upset, I’m just surprised someone could pack that much food away.”

Hanzo blushed. “I haven’t eaten since this time yesterday,” he explained.

“Well, that explains it. Want the rest of my pancakes?”

Mortified, Hanzo turned the offer down, and McCree mercifully changed the subject. It was an hour later of easy conversation when Reyes called, angrily asking where they were- realizing how long they had spent there, they paid in a hurry and left. 

“Sorry Boss,” McCree said as he tossed Reyes the carry out. “Got a little caught up.”

“If you two had stopped flirting you would have been more aware of the time,” Reyes grunted, unaware of the blush he had garnered from both of them. “Come on, got a call when you pulled up. Landlord called about a resident- said she hasn’t seen him in three days and the place is starting to smell.”

“Dead?” Hanzo asked. 

“Nah, just poor hygiene. Dispatch wasn’t too clear on the specifics.”

It was a good thirty minute drive to the location, and Hanzo spent most of it in the back with McCree, continuing their discussion over breakfast about the latest episode of The Walking Dead. When they arrived there was to an irate woman demanding access as the police tried to calm her down. 

“What’s going on?” Reyes asked. 

 

“Man upstairs had a mental breakdown,” the cop replied. “Started breaking things an hour ago- he isn’t dangerous yet, but he ignores everyone who tries talking to him. Keeps speaking to thin air.”

McCree frowned. “Any evidence of drugs?”

“None that we can tell. A few prescription medications, but hell if I know what they’re for.”

“I’ll get the wheelchair,” Hanzo said, resigned.

\---

When the shift finally ended, Hanzo felt dead on his feet. There hadn’t been any more calls after the man in the apartment, and after the excitement from the morning the resulting lack of adrenaline reminded him of how tired he was. After agreeing to join them tomorrow night on another round to finish off his hours, Hanzo dragged himself home and passed out before his head even hit the pillow.

To his surprise, McCree was waiting for him when he showed up the next night, holding a bag of blueberry waffles. “Didn’t know if you’d eaten, but I swung by the diner on my way in and figured I’d pick some up for you.”

“Oh- thank you,” Hanzo said, awkwardly taking the bag. He had eaten, but didn’t want to disappoint McCree. “How much do I-?”

“No need, partner. My treat for being good company.”

Hanzo blushed. He was doomed.

\---

Reyes confirmed his hours a day later, and Hanzo fought back a well of disappointment as he gave Amari the required copies. There was no reason he would see McCree again outside of emergencies, and he already missed their conversations. The man was deceptively smart, and Hanzo could only wonder why the man was content to be a paramedic. He knew more than he needed to qualify, could easily get into medical school if he wanted. There must have been a reason, but it was too late now. If Hanzo hadn’t been so tongue-tied in the man’s presence-

Well, it didn’t matter. Hanzo had dealt with crushes before, and he would just throw himself into work to forget. Wouldn’t be the first time someone got away.

Therefore, it was a surprise when, just after Hanzo finished clocking in, McCree sprinted up to him.

“Thank god.” He was breathing heavy from his run, and the words poured out quickly, his accent thicker in his distress. “Listen, Hanzo, I know there’s no real reason for us to see each other anymore, and you’re probably too busy anyway, lord knows you probably don’t want to do much after you get off work, I mean if I was on my feet all day too the only thing I’d be wanting is my bed and a strong cup of coffee-”

“McCree,” Hanzo interrupted, heart beating rapidly in his chest. “What are you asking?”

McCree paused, then slowly asked, “Do you wanna get lunch together later?”

His heart soared. “It would be my genuine pleasure.”

\---

It became a routine, of sorts, to get lunch together whenever they could. When their shifts didn’t line up Hanzo could find McCree still dropping food off for him, and it was only common decency that Hanzo do the same. At least, that was his excuse to Jesse and himself. Not because the man occupied his every waking thought and Hanzo found every excuse to see him.

Before he knew it they were texting constantly and meeting up on their days off, whether it was going to the movies, the local fair, or simply getting a few drinks at Jesse’s favorite bar.

“Sounds to me like you two are dating,” Lucio said one day.

The kid was a volunteer while he took classes at a nearby college- no matter how many bed pans he scrubbed, he was always in a good mood and whistling the latest hit on the radio. It was surprisingly easy to talk to him, and despite being all of nineteen, the kid was wise beyond his years. He attributed it to growing up in a rough neighborhood, and Hanzo didn’t press further. He knew the secrets one could carry close to the heart. 

“It’s not like that,” Hanzo sighed as he looked through the bag Jesse brought him. Inside was homemade tamales and conchas, the latter of which Hanzo had helped make during a mutual day off. The smell alone was amazing, the memories behind the meal even better. “We both have demanding jobs and it’s nice to just decompress with someone who gets it.”

Lucio grinned. “Decompress. Is that what they’re calling it these days?” At Hanzo’s glare he laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But seriously, office gossip thinks you two are an item.”

Hanzo hummed before closing the bag and heading for the break room. “Don’t you have bedpans to wash?”

“Already done!” Lucio shouted back, amusement heavy in his tone. “Tell your boyfriend I said hi!”

He ducked the pen thrown at him, then darted off, laughing.

\---

Most days, work was enough to distract from the dark thoughts that liked to invade his mind. Occasionally, the thoughts won, and it was all Hanzo could do to get up in the morning, let alone work. While Amari seemed uncannily attuned to her staff’s mindset and left it up to them on whether they were fully capable of working, she couldn’t be there all the time. 

One one such day, Hanzo was barely holding it together halfway through his shift. The day had started off fine, suspiciously well even. Things took a sharp downturn an hour in when unpleasant memories resurfaced, to the point where his coworkers were actively working together to lighten his workload and get him to cheer up. When Jesse showed up with concern etched into his face and a bag of Hanzo’s favorite candy, they all turned a blind eye as the paramedic coaxed Hanzo to the roof. It was midnight, and with the stars unusually clear for this part of the city, Jesse proceeded to teach him the constellations in an effort to distract him. Hanzo couldn’t quite focus on them the way Jesse could, but he tried- with Jesse telling the story behind each one, he could almost imagine the pictures behind the myths. 

Eventually, Jesse quieted as Hanzo finally relaxed. “Wanna talk about it?”

Hanzo sighed. “I got a call from my father today. He wants to make amends.”

Jesse hesitated, then gripped Hanzo’s hand. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.”

His first gut reaction was to agree- it wasn’t easy talking about his past, never was. But with Jesse, it was the first time Hanzo didn’t feel like an outsider. He made a space for Hanzo when no one else did. For the longest time Hanzo had been lonely, and now…

Hanzo squeezed Jesse’s hand. “I wasn’t supposed to be a nurse.”

Jesse blinked. “Family disapproves?”

“Yes. I’m from a prominent Japanese family- old blood, you could say. The company has been handed down between father and son for generations, and it was expected that I would inherit it. I spent my entire life being groomed for it- everything I did was for that eventual position. But one day, my brother…” he faltered. “Shimada Enterprises dealt in weapons. We had several contracts with various militaries, provided gear for several security firms, and… ‘negotiated’ with black market dealers. When I was young, it was simply the way things were.” 

“Then Genji almost died. I had just started university, and was home on break. Genji wanted to celebrate, so we went out to his favorite bar. We were walking home when a car came from nowhere… I had never felt so helpless. I realized in that instant all I knew was how to end a life. I knew nothing on how to save it.”

Jesse didn’t seem to mind that Hanzo shuddered and instinctively leaned closer to the man as he held back tears, instead draping his arm over Hanzo’s shoulders. The memory was still as sharp and awful as the event itself. Genji, lying in a pool of blood, his right side shredded from the impact and his limbs twisted unnaturally. He was unconscious, which was a small mercy, but that also meant he couldn’t hear Hanzo’s pleas, him begging for Genji to hold on, to stay alive-

The man who was driving the car wasn’t even an assassin. He was just a man, who was speeding because he could. Him going to jail did nothing to ease the helpless rage Hanzo had felt.

“As soon as Genji was stable, I called my advisor and changed my major. My father was furious when he found out. Told me that I was wasting my education, my family name, that I would be a nobody and amount to nothing. I told him it didn’t matter, that I would rather be a nobody than spend one more second as a Shimada. He disowned me that day, and we haven’t spoken since.”

He didn’t want to see Jesse’s reaction. It had been hard enough to find a job in Japan with the legacy of his family still hanging over his head- here in the States it wasn’t easier after they ran his background check, but at least he wasn’t immediately looked at with distrust. If Jesse turned out to be like the others-

“Hell, sweetheart. I knew you were tough, but after all that? No wonder it seems you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

His words surprised Hanzo, and he looked up to see nothing but admiration in Jesse’s gaze. “It takes a lot of guts to leave a bad situation, especially when it’s your own family. That ain’t something to be ashamed of, darling.”

“I…” to his alarm, Hanzo realized he was crying. “Thank you. No one’s ever…”

Jesse pulled him into a hug, and Hanzo went willingly. For once, he didn’t feel embarrassed or unsure. It felt natural, like-

Like home.

“Thank you,” Hanzo repeated. _For everything_ went unsaid, but Jesse seemed to understand nonetheless.

\---

“Settle down everyone,” Amari said as she walked in the door. Hanzo still flicked the paper football across the table to Emily, who groaned as he made the goal. _I win_ , he mouthed, and Emily pulled a face as Amari began with the monthly staff meeting.

This time, however, it seemed to go faster- theoretically Hanzo knew that they always lasted the same, but something was different. He couldn’t quite place his finger on why, at least until Lena nudged him. “Hey, want to see who can fluster Doctor Winston faster today? Bet you five bucks I can make him stammer before noon.”

“Ten and I’ll get it done before eight,” Hanzo immediately replied, and they shook on it. Suddenly he realized: he enjoyed it here.

Before, it had been routine. Get up, go to work, go home to sleep and repeat, occasionally taking a day to restock the groceries and watch whatever was on tv. Now, he had friends, people he talked to and made stupid bets with. He had always gotten along with his coworkers, but now he knew that Emily originally majored in horticulture and Jerry’s only love was his two pet dachshunds. He belonged here now. Even the doctors held conversations that weren’t work related with him.

His phone buzzed. _Hey darling, we still on for dinner tomorrow?_

Amari interrupted before he can reply. “And in other news, Georgie is coming back from maternity leave, but due to health complications it’s been pushed back a week, so we need someone to cover her shift tomorrow. Hanzo, you want it?”

Expectant eyes turned to him, and he paused. Before he wouldn’t have hesitated, but now… “Sorry, Ana. I already have plans.”

A small, approving smile flitted across her face. “Well, it’s up for grabs if anyone wants it. Dismissed.”

Hanzo’s smile was wide when he replied to Jesse’s text. _It’s a date._

\---

It started a year into his employment at Overwatch Training Hospital. He and Jesse were at lunch at the new Indian restaurant that opened near Hanzo’s apartment, a bowl of curry in front of each of them. Hanzo was laughing as Jesse sucked down water to combat the spices from the food. It wasn’t anything against the meal itself, but Jesse had overestimated his own resilience and underestimated the complexity of Indian dishes. 

“Laugh it up, Hanzo,” he wheezed. “Bet you made the same mistake I did.”

“Unlike you, I know my own limits,” Hanzo replied primly. 

“I’ll call Genji, bet he’ll have a different opinion-”

“You wouldn’t dare-”

The waitress interrupted them halfway through their fight over Jesse’s phone. “Is the food to your liking?” she asked, sounding amused.

Jesse nodded even as Hanzo scrambled further into his lap, reaching for the phone that was being held away from him. “Perfect, ma’am. Thank you.”

She nodded, smiling. “Enjoy your date. Let me know if you need anything.”

In Jesse’s sudden distraction, Hanzo was successful and retreated with the phone, smile triumphant. It faded when he saw Jesse’s expression. “Did I hit you? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No. No, that’s not it.” Jesse cleared his throat. “Just… remembered why I asked you here, is all.”

Hanzo tilted his head, confused. “You said you wanted to ask me something.”

Jesse nodded. “It’s been… an amazing few months, Han. I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I just can’t help but think… well.” He looked away briefly, and Hanzo was paralyzed in his seat. He hoped, he thought, he wanted Jesse to ask- “We’ll make even better boyfriends.”

“Yes,” he said, automatically. Then the reality hit him full force, and he lunged forward in the booth to wrap his arms around him. “Yes, Jesse.”

The laugh that came from both of them was tinged in disbelief, awe, and wonder. “I wanna kiss you so much right now,” Jesse said. “But I think we might get kicked out.”

Hanzo chuckled, sliding back into his seat at the booth. “Later, then. When we have more time.”

Jesse’s smile was a wondrous thing, and Hanzo’s heart had never been lighter. “I think we’ll have more than enough of that, darling.”


End file.
